Bery waited for the strange Yuri in her arm to finish. Before the odd creature could complete its task, Valerie showed up in the doorway.
The dragon gazed over Bery's form with narrowed eyes, and the cat girl hoped against everything that Valerie wouldn't notice the device. But Valerie simply smiled and walked over to the side of Bery's bed.
Valerie's eyes trailed over Bery's form. "It seems that your wounds have healed quickly, little kitten."
Bery flinched again from being called a kitten. Though, against a dragon the only thing she could do was bite her tongue. "It must be something to do with this room."
The dragon shook her head and leaned forwards, clasping Bery's hand in her own. "You know, there is no need to lie to me. Believe it or not, we dragons are deeply caring and understanding."
Bery's eyes widened and her ears twitched. "You just admit it?"
Valerie chuckled. "It's not like I was hiding anything." The dragon reached up and clasped her own black horns in her hand meaningfully. "This form seemed like it would be the easiest to communicate with." She looked behind herself at her own coiled red tail. "Besides, I quite like this form to begin with. It makes it easier to talk to you."
Bery looked down towards the dragon's tail before looking at her own much smaller tail. The white appendage waved behind her, vividly displaying her discomfort. Though, the question that was plaguing her mind finally rolled of her tongue.
"Why did you save me?"
Valerie didn't anticipate the question. She tilted her head as if she heard something odd, and her face wrinkled in puzzlement. "It's only natural that I would save such a precious kitten from the clutches of evil. The truth is I watched you from atop my mountain. I saw how you sit there in the depths of your own little world."
The dragon stood up and continued. "You were sitting there oblivious like a pretty little kitten. So focused on your painting that you failed to see the world around you. Don't take it as an insult. I admire such dedication, so I watched. You were so enchanting that even I hadn't noticed the bandits, but I could never let their deeds go unpunished. They tried to ruin something so beautiful. They had tried to take something that I had already grown to cherish from my very mountain."
Bery's heart thumped into her chest, and heat flooded her cheeks. People had called her gorgeous or pretty superficially, but there was never anyone who admired her paintings. Never anyone who had complimented her in this type of way. Usually, they were men in bars who only wanted one thing.
Valerie tilted the cat girl's head up by her chin with two of her fingers. "Indeed, I have decided."
The thumping of the cat's chest became even louder. "You decided?"
"I decided that you are now my most prized possession." The dragon's fiery eyes scanned up and down Bery's face as she maintained her grip on the cat. "You shall have no more worries about your safety or your finances. In my mountain, there is nobody that could harm you."
Bery didn't miss the dangerous glint in Valerie's eye. She knew it right away. This dragon was completely serious. Bery might have escaped the bandits, but how would she escape from those blazing eyes? How could she run away from someone who could fly the entire world to find her? The cat girl remembered the mountains of gold sitting out in the open. She remembered asking herself why someone would keep it where anyone could easily take a piece. But now she understood it.
Valerie is daring anyone to try. She would never let go of a singular piece. This is more than simply cherishing something. This is an obsession born deep within the dragon's soul.
A beeping inside of Bery's head caused the cat girl's ears to wiggle.
"Boot up successful. Yuri is now operational."
The dragon's eyes narrowed. Valerie looked towards the arm that held the triangle piece of metal.
Had Bery been found out?
Though, if the dragon had figured out, she didn't say it. She only uttered one word.
"Come."
Bery obediently followed the dragon outside of the room. Instead of heading towards the treasure room, this time they went up the curving steps. It didn't take them long to reach a long interior hallway. Only, this one was much different than those deep underground.
This hallway was more like the ones that Bery had seen in a castle once. When she was only a little kitten, she'd been allowed to see the inside of a beastmen castle. At that time she was wowed by the grandeur of the stone walls. Now, they were like a prison caging her in.
She was reminded of what she heard of vampire castles to the northeast. The blood suckers loved adorning their walls with treasures, and here was much the same. Instead of the depictions of bats or stone gargoyles, this place had dragon statues at different intervals.
The torches were small dragon heads with floating flames in their mouth. No doubt powered by the crystals that sat on top of them. How many magic crystals did this place need to function? How does she replenish so much magic power.
"Notice, silly cats should not question something so obvious. This dragon must be radiating the thing you call magic power."
Bery didn't let her annoyance show on her face. The dragon had continuously looked behind her to make sure that the cat continued to follow obediently. What kind of personality did you get now?
"Hmph. I have chosen something completely opposite from my previous personality. This one comes with a bit of sass to match a cat's aura. It is my knowledge that cats are one of the proudest beings, and their sass level is directly proportionate to their softness. Since you are a gentle cat, I directly reverse engineered…"
Okay...I get it. Have you figured out something? A way for me to escape from this place?
"More knowledge is required. For now I urge the cat to continue her natural tendency to be meek."
The dragon whipped around, noticing Bery's tail waving. "Is something the matter, kitten? I know you must be frightened, but we're almost there."
Once again, the word kitten grated against Bery's mind, but she shook her head. "I'm not used to all of this."
Valerie nodded, and before Bery could utter anything, the dragon picked her up like a precious princess.
"What are you---"
Valerie pressed a finger to Bery's lips before pushing a grand door open with her foot.
A gigantic throne room greeted the cat. She couldn't help widening her eyes in awe of the grand structure. Pillars held up the enormous room that must have been big enough to house several dragons. At the end of a large red carpet, there were grand steps and two large thrones.
The ceiling of the place was made of glass that was impossibly clear, and the sun shone through the mountaintop, painting the room in vivid brightness.
"I didn't really have time to make you a proper throne, but I have something even better to show you."
"Huh?"
Bery shrieked as the dragon jumped.
Valerie leapt from pillar to pillar and arrived at another staircase behind the throne room. This one led up to a large tower with a small platform. Valerie pressed a button next to the platform, and the two of them began to be lifted up the stone structure.
Bery was still reeling from the movements that she hardly had time to process the metal floor beneath them, rising up something that looked like a wizard's tower.
When the two of them finally reached the top, they stood over the entire world. A clear sky greeted them. For miles in every direction, Bery saw sprawling forests and vivid landscapes.
A blank canvas stood next to battlements, and a tub of different painting ornaments sat next to that.
"I'm sorry," Valerie said. "What I told you before was a small lie. This wasn't the first time I had watched you. You've been going around the mountain for different scenes to paint, have you not?"
"I...I have."
The dragon grinned and gestured with her arms to the world around her. "Well, how about this for scenery?"
Bery couldn't believe something like this existed at the peak of the mountain. Even though they were so high up, the cat girl could breathe easily, and there was warmth around her. Only a small bristle of wind brushed up against them. She leapt from Valerie's arms to stare over the crenelations.
Mana coated the atmosphere, and in all directions, there was a unique sight to lay her eyes upon. Bery felt two strong arms wrap around her waist in a hug. A tantalizing voice danced against her sensitive ears.
"All of this will be yours forever, and you...you will be mine forever."